Just as before, when Monday came things were back to being crazy busy for the agency. Kana apologized for having to leave so early, but Hanako understood and asked how her sister was doing. Kana was relieved to report that her sister, Miyu, had only gotten a small fracture during her training and was able to come home that same night. When she asked Hanako how the rest of the day went for her, she was ecstatic to hear that Hanako and Keigo had ended up spending it all together. She was certain that they would get together, sooner or later, and wished Hanako the best.

Keigo began to bury himself in work again, wanting to put this business with the Police Force and the Yakuza to bed as quickly as he could so that things could return to some sense of normalcy. He was grateful that Hanako kept him grounded, though, and always made sure that he had his coffee and his meals and never stayed later than necessary for work. Meanwhile, Hanako did her best to keep her feelings for Keigo at bay while they worked, but even as much as he tried to bury himself in the job, Keigo still found subtle and little ways to flirt with her or tease her.

Things in Fukuoka continued to stand on the edge of chaos for several more weeks and before anyone knew it, winter had come and the first snowfall had blanketed the city. Hanako had taken to baking cookies and other goodies to bring with her to work, using the ingredients she had grown herself on the rooftop garden of her apartment building. She'd even bring her family's house blend coffee and hot cocoa to stock the pantry of the office's break room, much to everyone's appreciation. Before long, though, the end of the year was drawing nearer and the Yakuza made their move, leaving the agency heroes and the Police Force to drop everything and act quickly to minimize the damage that could be done.

For nearly three weeks, the Yakuza terrorized the city and tried to lay claim to it in an attempt to expand their territory. The agency had been targetted a few times too many during the battle against the Yakuza and Keigo ordered all non-essential employees to take a paid leave of absence until things blew over. Hanako, Mizuku, and Kana were among the employees forced to stay at home- Mizuku and Kana both having very weak quirks while Hanako's was still not strong enough to do any good in a fight.

One day while getting a ride home, Hanako and the cab driver were caught up in a brawl between the Yakuza and the Police Force. One of the Yakuza members actually hijacked the cab in an attempt to flee the scene, with Hanako and the driver as his hostages. However, when his attempt failed, he shot the driver and dragged Hanako out of the back seat of the cab- threatening to kill her if the police didn't let him go. Hanako knew the driver wasn't dead, but he was severely wounded and needed help, and she didn't know how soon someone could come to save her.

'Keigo...'

"I swear I will shoot her!"

Hanako's heart was pounding but she forced herself to remain calm and tried to focus. 'I have to try to save myself... stay calm... breathe... feel the energy in the earth...'

The Yakuza member was beginning to panic, but he was caught off guard as the ground beneath him began to shake. "What the-" He yelped as thorny vines sprouted from beneath him and snaked their way around his legs and arms.

Hanako fell to her knees as the Yakuza member's hold on her was released and just as she pushed herself upright, Keigo arrived on the scene and landed next to her.

"Hanako!"

"I'm alright," she replied, taking his hands and letting him pull her to her feet. She was surprised when he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.

"Thank goodness..." Keigo sighed with relief, but when the Yakuza member struggled against her thorny vines, his eyes narrowed and he aimed a feather at the man.

"Don't, it's over," Hanako said, grasping his hand.

Keigo hesitated for a moment, but when Hanako grasped his hand he sighed and let the feather fall. "Officer Yumoto, he's all yours."

Officer Yumoto and the rest of his squad set about breaking the man free from Hanako's vines to arrest him as Keigo looked Hanako over once more.

"I'm fine, I promise," Hanako insisted. "Just a bit shaken up." She looked over as the paramedics hurried over to the cab driver. "I just hope the driver is alright."

Keigo looked at her with a furrowed brow and concern etched into his face. "What were you doing out, Hanako? I thought I told you and the others to stay at home where it was safe."

"I had some errands I needed to run, so I grabbed a cab and-"

"This wasn't up for debate, Hanako," Keigo retorted, a lot harsher than he had intended. When he felt and saw Hanako flinch at his tone, he sighed. "I just want to make sure that you're safe, alright? All of you."

"I'm not completely helpless, Hawks," Hanako said, stepping back from him. "You can't keep me- us- locked away from the world just because you're afraid someone will get hurt."

"Hanako, that's not-"

Hanako shook her head. "I would have thought better of you, yet here you are treating me like a child." She turned away. "I'm going home."

Keigo made to stop her, but he was quickly swarmed by reporters and saw that Hanako had approached one of the police officers- getting into the back of the cruiser before the officer drove off. 'Damn it..!'

Hanako thanked the officer who had taken her home and made her way up to her apartment, shutting the door behind her with a heavy sigh. She set her things aside, kicked off her shoes, and started drawing herself a bath. While the water heated up, she added in some lavender and lemon essential oil-infused bath salts then set out a fresh towel.

As she started stripping out of her wet and dirty clothes, her phone rang and she saw that it was Keigo. She was still upset with him for acting the way he was earlier and she chose to ignore the call.

'I've never seen him like that before...'

She set her clothes in the dirty hamper and slid into the bathtub, feeling the warmth of the water and the fragrance of the bath salts seeping into her body. As she soaked, her phone rang a few more times but she still ignored it.

She didn't understand why Keigo was acting like she was a helpless child, not when he was the one who had suggested that she work on strengthening her quirk. She had taken that suggestion to heart and worked really hard in her free time to grow her quirk as much as she could, and seeing what she had done to the Yakuza member surprised her but gave her hope that she was in fact getting stronger.

'I don't want to be a liability to him... he can't always be there to protect me...'

She sat and soaked for a while, at least until the steam began to dissipate. The bath salts helped to calm her nerves and put her mind at ease to think over everything. As the bath finished draining and Hanako was wrapping the towel around herself, she heard a knock at the door.

'Who is that?'

She went to the door, looking through the peephole to see that it was the same police officer as before.

'Why is he back?' she wondered, but just as she opened her mouth to ask him for a moment, a knock came at her sliding door. 'What the hell?'

Hanako went over to the sliding door, ignoring the knock at her front door as it came again. She was about to reach for the curtain to take a peek outside, but she stopped when she heard Keigo's voice.

"Hanako, let me in."

Hanako opened the curtain and slid open the door. "What are you doing here?"

Keigo ignored the fact that she was in nothing but a towel and stepped inside. "You're not safe." He looked towards the front door as another knock sounded.

"It's the officer who brought me home," Hanako tried to explain.

"He's one of the Yakuza. The man who took you hostage identified him as one of a dozen or so who have infiltrated the Police Force." Keigo explained. "Quickly, I need you to get dressed and pack a bag; I'm getting you out of here."

The knocking at her front door had now turned to banging and Hanako was beginning to grow fearful. "OK," she hurried to her room, closing the door slightly as she quickly got dressed. She threw together a couple of days worth of clothes along with a few other things- including her toiletries, wallet, keys, and phone. She pulled on her boots and coat, trying to be as quiet as she could so as not to alert the imposter officer to her presence near the door.

"Ready?"

Hanako nodded and followed Keigo out onto the balcony. She knew that he was going to fly her somewhere safe, but she was still incredibly nervous.

"It'll be OK, I promise," Keigo said, sensing her nervousness. "I'll keep you safe."

Hanako took a deep breath, pulled her hat from one of her coat pockets, and looked at him as she shoved her still wet hair beneath it. "OK."

Keigo waited for her to shoulder her bag, making sure that it was secure before he scooped her up into his arms and took to the skies.

The skies above Fukuoka were dark, a winter storm brewing as night fell, which gave them good cover as Keigo carried Hanako to the safest place he could think of.